Ulster Sports Academy

Dr Michael Hanlon

Biography

Michael Hanlon is a lecturer in Biomechanics at the University of Ulster. He graduated with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the University of Limerick, Ireland, in 2002 and subsequently completed a PhD in Biomechanics at the University of Limerick in 2008. He began his current post at the University of Ulster in September 2008.

Research Interests

Dr Hanlon’s research interests include the applications of biofeedback for sport and rehabilitation, ambulatory monitoring and the analysis and quantification of movement variability. He is particularly interested in the technologies and techniques which underpin these research areas. This includes the use of accelerometers, gyroscopes, in-shoe pressure sensors and traditional lab based motion analysis systems.

Current Research Projects

Quantification of time to stabilisation using the sequential estimation technique
Validity of the Spanning set technique for quantifying inter-trial movement variability
Effect of fatigue on risk factors for tibial stress fracture in runners
Differences in skin-movement artefact between various marker sets in measuring golf swing kinematics
Investigation of the effect of physiotherapy interventions on the movement kinematics and muscle activity in traditional Irish musicians
User perspective of a real-time digital statistics recording system in soccer

External Involvement

Member of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sport
Member of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences
Member of the Trauma and Rehabilitation Recognised Research Group, Northern Ireland
Reviewer for Journal of Sport Sciences
Reviewer for Journal of Medical Engineering and Physics
Scientific committee member for the 27th International Society of Biomechanics in Sport conference

Research Funding

Source: Invest NI Innovation voucher scheme
Project: Statzpack digital statistics system user analysis
Amount awarded: £4000
Year awarded: 2010-2011

Teaching Areas

Sport and Exercise Biomechanics
Applied Biomechanics
Exercise Science
Quantitative Data Analysis
Introduction to Sports Science
Research Project

Recent Publications

Kennedy, Rodney and Hanlon, Michael (2011) Concurrent validity a portable device for assessing leg extensor muscle function under stretch-shortening cycle conditions. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25 (Supplement 1). S98. [Journal article]

Breslin, Gavin, Hodges, Nicola J, Hanlon, Michael, Kennedy, Rodney and Williams, A, Mark (2010) The 'learned parameters' hypothesis as an explanation of the especial skill effect. In: North American Society for Sport and Physical Activity. , Arizona, USA. Human Kinetics Pub Inc. Vol 32 1 pp. [Conference contribution]

Breslin, Gavin, Hodges, Nicola J., Kennedy, Rodney, Hanlon, Michael and Williams, A. Mark (2010) An especial skill: Support for a learned parameters hypothesis. Acta Psychologica, 134 . pp. 55-60. [Journal article]

Hanlon, Michael, Condell, Joan and Kearney, P (2009) The Spanning Set as a Measure of Movement Variability. In: The 27th Annual International Society of Biomechanics in Sports Conference (ISBS 2009), Limerick, Ireland. International Society of Biomechanics in Sport. 4 pp. [Conference contribution]

Hanlon, Michael and Anderson, Ross (2009) Real-time gait event detection using wearable sensors. Gait & Posture, 30 (4). pp. 523-527. [Journal article]

Hanlon, Michael and Anderson, Ross (2006) Prediction methods to account for the effect of gait speed on lower limb angular kinematics. GAIT and POSTURE, 24 (3). pp. 280-287. [Journal article]

Hanlon, Michael and ANDERSON, ROSS (2005) Use of real-time bandwidth kinematic feedback in learning a cyclical lower limb movement skill. Gait and Posture, 21 . S131. [Journal article]